Collapsible baby chair



Aug. 3, 1937. v. Dl GIACOMO ET AL COLLAPSIBLE BABY CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 8, 1936 Wm w INYE .TORS .D me new ATTORNEY v. DI GIACOMO ET AL GOLLAPSIBLE BABY CHAIR Aug. 3, 1937.

Filed Sept. 8, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 -.1 JPJ-J ,1

6 Y Salami ATTORN Patented Aug. 3, 1937 [UNITED STATES 2,089,090 COLLAPSIYBLE BABY CHAIR Vincent Di Giacomo and Leoluca Salemi,

New York, N. Y.

Application September 8, 1936, Serial No.7 99,784

. 3' Claims.

I This invention, relates tov accessories for the care of. babies and more particularly refers to improvements in means for holding a: baby in a sitting posture so as to keep him free from harm.

4 When a mother having a young baby leaves her home to go'visiting orcamping or some place where a babys chair is not likely to be found,

she is generally compelled to hold the baby in heifarms or lap during practically all of the time. This causes discomfort and fatigue and otherwise interferes with the pleasure of a 'trip or outing, so that as a result on frequent occasions it. is. necessary for the mother to forego. such diversions; a I I 5 The care of a baby on such occasions also makes it necessaryto carry along various articles such as the babysmilk bottle, diapers, extra garments, etc., and this also constitutes anadditional burden making it desirable to have ,a convenient package on handfor'carrying-all these articles.

The primary objectof thisinvention is to pro- ,vide alcollapsible structure which is very compact and unobtrusive when contracted and whichis composed of articulated elementsexpansible'into an open top-receptacle: within which a baby can u be seated, said' receptaclehaving a bisected open front through which tthe, babysleg's can extend. Another; object is ,to provide an article of the character specified which when contracted forms a asmall box orcar-rying case withinuwhich the various articles necessary for the care and comfort of the baby can be conveniently carried. I -A further object is to provide-aicollapsible'structure: whichtwhen expanded forms an open top ="g5ireceptaclenwithinwhich a baby-can 'be' seated, saidvreceptacle beingadapted to be placed upon an ordinary chair and securely fastened in"posi-'- :tionsso that the baby cannot" fall or change his position. I v

' A still further objectis to'provide an article of ,the character. specified composed of a relatively small number of" parts, adaptedto be easily and quickly operated and produced at relatively small cost; I I r 1 T I I other objects andi'advantages' of the present invention will more fully'appear as 'the'description proceeds and will be set forth and claimed in the appended claims. v

I Qii'r'finvention is illustrated by'way'of example the accompanying drawingsyin which: 0

" "Fig; l is a plan v iewfof the'device in its contracted" condition H 4 I ig., 2 v is a rear view in elevation-thereof 1" Fig 3Qis a fragmentary side view in elevation of the bottom board illustrating one of the looking guide brackets;

4 a side view in elevation of the devic in its expanded condition ready for use;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse section on an enlarged scale illustrating a spring catch automatically locking thedevice in its collapsed condition; 4

Fig. 6 is a side view in elevation showing the device in use placedand secured upon anordinary 10 chair; and V I I Fig. 7;is a perspective view of the device in its expanded condition placed on the floor ready for use. I c v I v .O-ur device as illustrated comprisesa rela- 15 tively shallow-open bottomrectangular casing t0; the top of which I I is provided with an opening l2 wide enough to permitthe body of a small child to be inserted therethrough. y I

Opening I2 is normally closed by a lid l3 hinged 2 to'itsrear edge as shown at .14; I5; and retained in its closed-position, where itis flushwith the top H,.by a: suitable. locking device, such as for instance-shown at l6. I

The device also comprises a bottom board I1, 5 the outline of 'which cor-responds to the outline of the casing, said board being :adapt'ed to rest against the open bottom of said casing as shown in Fig. 2;. forming a closure therefor when the device is' in. itslcontractednposition. i

The bottomboard I! issecured in'position of abutment against the lower edge of the casing by some suitable releasable means. For instance, in thedrawings each end wall of the casing is shown prov ided with an outwardly projecting '35 burn 'or' lug 'constituted in this case bythetransverse member of' a staple l8 driven'through' the 'wall boarda- I I I I I The bottom board is shown provided wi'th upwardly extendiiig spring 1 catches I9, I one at each end, said spring catches having their outer end embossedto form a bea'd or depression 20 adapted to engage and interlockwith member I8,and having their 'tip' end slightly rounded outwardly 'as' sho'wn' at 23!; so as to cause said tip end to ride over member" l8*wh'ereby bar I 8;- and catches 19 will autor'naticallyinterlock v when bottom, board" I! is pressed imposition against the lower edge/of the casing. o 50 The bottomboard is connected to the casing by a lazy tongs system comprising two articulated cross: arms 22,: V23; at each end of the structure. Said; twoarms are pivotally connected tov each other at their central point 24. The rear end 55 order to permit the articulated structure formed 1 by each set of cross arms to contract or expand with the casing and bottom board structure.

To this end the front part vof the lower sur-,

face of top II of the casing is provided, in proximity of each end, with an angle bracket 29 having a vertical depending rib 3U theouter sur-" face of which is substantially on the same; plane;

as the inner surfaceof its corresponding arm 23. Said rib 30 'is provided with an elongatedslot3 I; extending in a front to rear direction, within which can s'l'ide'a's tud'32 carried by, and laterally projecting from the front end of arm 23, the same establishing a sliding and pivotal connection between rib 30 and arm 23:

Ina similar manner the front part'of bottom board I! is provided at each end with an'angle bracket 33 having a rib 34 vertically extending therefrom in a front to're'ar direction. Said rib is provided with an elongated slot 35 within which is inserted a stud 36 carried by and laterally extending from the front end of arm 32. a

In proximity of its rear end said slot 35' is provided with a notch 31 adapted to receive stud 36 when the-device is'in its expanded position shown in Fig. 4,-said Lnot'ch forming a stop retaining its corresponding .lazy tongs: structure in its expanded position until -the lower end of arm 22 isiforced upwardly by: hand. soias to disengage its stud 36 from notch.3l' and reset said stud 36 in the runway formed by slot '35.

At thefrontthe casing andthe bottom board are connected by a centrally. disposed flexible band 38 made of leather orsomeother suitable material which will be fully extended whenthe device is in its expanded position.

At the rearthe casing is'provided with astrap 39 running horizontally. from. one end to .the other, said strap formingsa handlefor the device when i insits collapsed, conditiomand serving to carry, the device in suitcase.fashion.

Preferably the strap is, inserted teach end through a slot suchas shown at .40 in Fig. 4 provided in rib 4i. outwardlyextending from a corner piece, which serves to connect the rear. and side .walls as well as, the top of. the, casing together,

and which also acts as a reinforcement for the ur H M T e. tr i on e ou h. to v ncir let e back of a chair when unfastened and extended, so that when the device in its expanded position is placed upon a chair as shown in Fig.6, the strap can be used to securely fasten the deviceonto the chair. The manner of using the device is clearly shown in Fig. 6, where it is seen that thebaby can be inserted through top opening l2 and seatedupon the bottom board l7 so that 'his' legswill extend from the space left open at the rom between the lower edge of the casing and'the bottom board, one leg at each'side of strap 38. The'lid l3 has been raised against the back of the chair and provides'a back rest for the child, who'will thus 'be sitting in a very comfortable and proper tu e r When the device is placed upon the floor as shown in Fig. 7, the lid is turned all the way back until it rests against the fioor so as to form an inclined prop for the rear of the structure. The lid is held in this position by fastening the strap 39 over it, and will positively prevent the structure from overturning if the child should bend his legs and brace or press with his feet against some obstacle in front of him.

The device, due to its breadth, is likewise also very stable at both ends so that once the child is placed in it he cannot cause it to topple over.

When the device is in its collapsed condition it forms a rectangular box of which lid l3 forms a closure, sorthat when moving from place to place the device can be utilized as a receptacle within which all the things necessary to the care of the baby can be placed and carried. As stated, the device then acquires the appearance of a small suitcase which can be conveniently carried by means of a handle formed by strap 39. L v

The device can be quickly extended from its contracted'o'r closed position to its expanded or open position merely by holding the casing at the two ends and forcing open the two spring catches 19 by pressing against their out-turned tip ends H; I The weight of the bottom board and articulatedarms 22, 23 will causethese parts to autoinatically drop to their outermost extended posi- The device is then placed on the floor or upon a chair as explained and'the front ends ofthe artioulatedarms 22, 23 will slide a short distance until studs 36 fall into notches 31 and the device remains-stabilized in its expanded position.

- 'I'o close it, it is suflicient to holdthe bottom board at each end and by inserting the index? finger-of eachhand under the front end ofthe -adjoiningarm22,"force it up'enough to free its stud 36 from notch 31; the device will then collapse of its ownweight and. will be locked and retained in its collapsed condition by spring catches If desired, the casing can also be equipped at the front with a hinged-board adapted to be folded-over its top or to be extended frontwardly .thereof as' shown in full lines at 43 in Fig. 6, andindotted lines at 43 in Figs. 4 and 'l. Said hingedboardwiltprovide an additional convenience in-the'form of a table extending directly in front of the child for holding playthings and other articles. 1 1 i -:.-.-From-the :foregoing it will be seen that we .providea novel and improved type of collapsible .babywhair. which can be conveniently carried about and which can also-serve as a receptacle for holding the babyslnecessities. a I

.The constructional details of ourinvention can vary to some extent-from those shown without departing. fromthe inventive idea. The drawings willntherefore be understood as being intended for illustrativepurposes only and not in a limitmgsense. v H

Accordingly, we reserve the right to carry our invention into practice inall those ways and manners which mayenter, fairly, into the scope of the appended claims.

We claim: 1 J p ,3 1. A combined luggage casejand collapsible babys chair comprising'a top member, a. bottom member detachablylconnected thereto, sides on one of said members adapted to engage the other member when in connected position to form a box like container, extensible connections between s'aidt'op member andbottoin member for holding the top member in superimposed horizontal extended position relative to said bottom member, forming an open front therebetween, means engaging and retaining said connections in their extended position, said top member having an opening through which the body of a baby sitting upon said bottom member can be inserted so that its upper part remains above and surrounded on three sides by said top member, with its legs extending through the open front, a closure member for said opening, means for hinging said closure member to the rear edge of said top member, and means for latching said closure member to close said opening.

2. A combined luggage case and collapsible babys chair comprising a top member, a bottom member detachably connected thereto, sides on one of said members adapted to engage the other member when in connected position to form a box like container, extensible connections between said top member and bottom member for holding the top member in superimposed horizontal extended position relative to said bottom member, forming an open front therebetween, means engaging and retaining said connections in their extended position, said top member having an opening through which the body of a baby sitting upon said bottom member can be inserted so that its upper part remains above and surrounded on three sides by said top member, with its legs extending through the open front, a closure member for said opening, means for hinging said closure member to the rear edge of said top member, means for latching said closure member to close said opening, and an extensible member connecting at the front said top and bottom member, bisecting the open front therebetween.

3. A combined luggage case and collapsible babys chair comprising a top member, a bottom member detachably connected thereto, sides on one of said members adapted to engage the other member when in connected position to form a box like container, extensible connections between said top member and bottom member for holding the top member in superimposed horizontal extended position relative to said bottom member, forming an open front therebetween, means engaging and retaining said connections in their extended position, said top member having an opening through which the body of a baby sitting upon said bottom member can be inserted so that its upper part remains above and surrounded on three sides by said top member, with its legs extending through the open front, a closure member for said opening, means for hinging said 010-! sure member to the rear edge of said top member, means for latching said closure member to close said opening, and a table member hinged to the front edge of said top member and tiltable to a position where it extends frontwardly therefrom.

VINCENT DI GIACOMO. LEOLUCA SALEMI. 

